Kevin McCarthy goes nuclear: Republican Speaker says there would be no spending mess if Biden fixed the border and claims his critics are siding WITH the president – as Senate releases stopgap funding bill
Kevin McCarthy goes nuclear: Republican chairman says there wouldn’t be a spending mess if Biden fixed the border and claims his critics are siding with the president – as the Senate releases emergency funding bill
- The Republican leader said he would table a CR, an emergency bill to fund the government after September 30, before Saturday.
- The chairman can only afford to lose four Republican votes and still pass a party-line CR, full of cuts
- The Senate is calling for a “clean” CR without cuts, which McConnell has endorsed
While the House of Representatives remains divided, the Senate has released text of a bill that would push back the deadline for a government shutdown by six weeks.
The continuing resolution (CR) would extend government funding from September 30 to November 17. It includes more than $6 billion in aid to Ukraine, which is sure to anger some conservatives in the House of Representatives. It also includes $6 billion in disaster relief.
Speaker Kevin McCarthy remained non-committal on whether he would ever give a Senate-authored CR a vote in the House of Representatives.
On Tuesday, he said he would table an emergency funding bill before Saturday, but he said he would continue to push for a bill that includes border security provisions.
The Senate CR would likely pass both the Senate and the House of Representatives with votes from Democrats and some Republicans if the Republican Party leadership in the House of Representatives were to vote on it.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell approved a “standard, short-term” relief bill in the Senate on Tuesday.
“Over the years, I’ve been pretty clear that government shutdowns are bad news any way you look at it. They do not serve as a political bargaining chip,” the Republican leader said.
The Senate will advance the House of Representatives’ FAA reauthorization bill on Tuesday, which Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer will use to pass a CR through the Senate.
Meanwhile, the knives fall between Congress and the White House, four days before a government shutdown, as McCarthy blames Joe Biden’s border policies and slams right-wing Republicans who are “siding” with the president .
The Republican leader said he would table a short-term continuing resolution (CR), or emergency bill to fund the government after September 30, by Saturday and that it would likely include provisions to strengthen border security.
“What worries me is that there are people in the Republican Party who will take President Biden’s position against what the rest of Americans want,” McCarthy said Tuesday.
The chairman can only afford to lose four Republican votes and still pass a party-line CR, full of cuts.
More than four members of his conference have expressed opposition to a CR — most notably McCarthy opponent Matt Gaetz, R-Fla. They are pushing for the House to make the most progress on 12 single-issue spending bills.
Four days before the government shutdown, the knives fall between Congress and the White House as Chairman McCarthy blames Joe Biden’s border policies and slams right-wing Republicans who are “siding” with the president
McCarthy, who signed a debt-limit deal with President Biden that sets top spending for the 2024 fiscal year, is now asking to meet with him to strike another deal to keep the government funded.
“Why don’t we just make a deal with the president?” McCarthy told reporters he was pressuring him about closing a CR deal with Democrats in Congress.
The House of Representatives will vote Tuesday night on a rule to advance four of the 12 appropriations bills, which could be a harbinger for the week ahead. It is not yet clear whether a handful of hardline Republicans will allow the rule to pass.
He then suggested that if Biden were to enact his border policies, they could work together on financing — a seemingly unfeasible trade-off.
“Listen, the president, all he has to do…it’s just actions he has to take. He can do it like this. He changed all the policies at the border. He can change that,” McCarthy said. “We can keep the government open and finish the work we’ve done.”
“What worries me is that there are people in the Republican Party who will take President Biden’s position against what the rest of Americans want,” McCarthy said Tuesday.
Border crossings in the 2023 fiscal year, which ends at the end of September, are on track to surpass those in 2022 after figures released on Friday showed an increase of 50,000 apprehensions in the month of August.
In recent days, the Biden team has joined the Republican Party in causing the shutdown: Biden warned voters to “stop electing Republicans” if they couldn’t make spending deals that keep the government open.